1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an obstacle alarm device for clearly indicating, to an occupant, the presence of an obstacle approaching a vehicle.
2. Description of the Related Art
The periphery of a vehicle includes blind spots which cannot be viewed from the position of the driver, and the driver must pay close, careful attention to the periphery of the vehicle when driving the vehicle. In particular, in a case where a vehicle is being driven in reverse and parked, many users have a poor awareness of the actual act of parking, and the mental fatigue as well is not negligible. In view whereof, conventionally technology for monitoring an obstacle in the periphery of the vehicle has been used (for example, Patent Documents 1 and 2).
A vehicle obstacle alarm device recited in Patent Document 1 is configured to comprise lateral movement obstacle detecting means, lateral movement direction detecting means, and lateral movement information providing means. The lateral movement obstacle detecting means detects an obstacle moving in front of the vehicle in a direction intersecting a direction of travel. The lateral movement direction detecting means detects the lateral movement direction of the obstacle detected by the lateral movement obstacle detecting means. The lateral movement information providing means provides a driver with information relating to the lateral movement direction of the obstacle detected by the lateral movement direction detecting means. Therein, the lateral direction information providing means displays, on a display, an arrow representing the lateral movement direction detected by the lateral movement direction detecting means, on a display unit.
A vehicle periphery monitoring device recited in Patent Document 2 is configured to comprise image-capturing means, obstacle detecting means, and displaying means. The image-capturing means captures an image of a vehicle periphery, including a part of an automobile. The obstacle detecting means detects an obstacle located in the vehicle periphery, and calculates the distance between the detected obstacle and the automobile. The displaying means displays, on a single screen, a captured image captured by the image-capturing means as well as an obstacle display image illustrating the distance calculated by the obstacle detecting means.